[center][h2][b][color=#d31c0a]Deo’Irah[/color][/b][/h2][/center]

Deo’Irah had taken a moment to attempt to compose herself, her hands reflexively coming together and fingers steepling together as she took a deep breath in. The ocean of her soul was furious, roiling with a genuine moral affront–but with each breath she stilled its turbulence and regained control of her wits. The outburst was done, now–the social consequences were inevitable. She would pay them no mind for the moment and assess the situation depending on the outcome of current events. Sir Yanin, of course, took the position of the leader. He reminded her of Jahniv--though less effective, thanks to the gift of telepathy… reticent with his words, though each word was assessed to be as impactful as possible. Jordan and Nabissistra had wisely taken refuge in the other room–though she was more worried about Jordan than the clearly magically-trained Nabi. Divine energy parasitised Magical energy, after all–and those with more of it could withstand more accumulation of the taint.

It was Madara that most got her attention as she listened to her companions while reining her anger in–Irah missed entirely her initial reaction to the divine energy, her focus so single-minded in the moment, but the questions the half-Palanter asked might as well have been plucked from Deo’Irah’s mind, for they pressed upon the weakness she had noted earlier: [i]why?[/i].

Then she felt the absence of what felt only a fairly mild concentration of divine energy to her–but her resistance to divine energy was considerable, and the others must have been feeling far worse than she. The Thalk, as she was utterly convinced that was what it was, had abated its power somewhat as it pondered Madara’s words–and that was the perfect opportunity to discern more precisely what motivated this divine. That was the trick with divines, typically: they were mortals once, skewed towards the most influential aspect of their personality. Thalks were, indeed, deceitful by nature–but a Thalk of Reina would act very differently to a Thalk of Rilon.

[color=#d31c0a][b]“Your summoner, Feevesha…”[/b][/color] Deo’Irah began, switching back to Rodorian now that her focus had returned. She took a moment to audibly exhale through her nose, her expression shifting more towards one of sympathy than of her previous rage. It crossed her mind that this could, indeed, be a part of the deception–but the vacillating quality of the illusions, the genuine moment of confusion, and the diminishing of its aura… Well. They were as close to an olive branch as one could get with a Thalk, she reckoned–and Sir Freagon seemed [i]quite[/i] capable of slaying the thing where it stood should the tables turn. 

[color=#d31c0a][b]”... she brought up the fact that she was a summoner in order to aid the townsfolk here. Bandits have taken the town’s healer, and she wanted to help recover him as there are wounded nearby. It was then that the witch-hunters turned on her, [i]cretins[/i] that they are…”[/b][/color] Irah finished, her rage flaring in a seething exhortation of cold fury as she all-but spat the term “witch-hunters”. 

[color=#d31c0a][b]“May I ask… which deity do you serve? How would you like to be addressed?”[/b][/color] she offered, laying bare her palms from their previous position in a gesture of what she hoped would be received as peace. With the divine energy having abated some of the palpable tension seemed to have melted away too, though the gentle listing of the sword towards Freagon was something that did not escape Irah’s attention either–they would still have to tread carefully. There was, Irah saw, a narrow path that served everyone’s interests: if, indeed, it could be convinced that its purpose was aligned with theirs, they would gain a truly formidable ally in their upcoming task. It would also be a fitting send-off for Feevesha, whose noble impulse to help had been misinterpreted by the witch-hunters… if she could not live to see it through herself, Deo’Irah would see it done herself. She made to herself a brief and silent vow of that, her focus renewed and will steeled.